Plum position: how Mutti turned tinned tomatoes into a status symbol

Italian brand poised to overtake Napolina in UK sales is touring the country on a mission to win more customers

Posh jars of beans, fancy cooking oils and bougie tonic waters have tempted many of us to splash out in the hope of discovering a more exciting taste. Now tinned tomatoes, the basis of so many home-cooked meals, have entered the era of the premium takeover.

Mutti, the Italian brand whose tinned tomatoes retail at about £1.60 compared with about 50p for a tin of supermarket own-label, is poised to overtake Napolina, which retails at about £1 a tin, as the UK’s biggest non-supermarket brand of tinned tomatoes, passata and paste.